ADAM Schneider proved to be a popular guest speaker at the Sportsperson of the Year presentation night on Saturday.
The former Sydney Swans premiership player and current St Kilda star was in high demand throughout the night, signing autographs, passing on advice to some of the junior nominees looking to make it to the next level and happily answering questions from the floor.
Schneider spoke of his time growing up in Osborne and the decision to leave St Francis College after year 9 to attend school in Wagga in hopes of achieving his dream of playing Australian football at the highest level.
After being drafted to the Swans in 2001 at 17, Schneider has risen through the ranks and has played in three grand finals, earned a Rising Star nomination in his debut season in 2003 and played for Australia in the International Rules series in 2006.
Schneider thanked the sportsperson committee for being patient with him in organising to attend the awards, as he is in the middle of pre-season training, and was impressed by the calibre of athletes up for the major awards.
"There seems to be so many good people out there and so many different sports people are doing well in," he said. "It's great to see in a community like this.
"There's a great turnout here. It's good to see everyone involved.
"To the young guys here tonight, if you want to succeed at footy or anything you have to enjoy it.
"It shouldn't be something you force yourself to do. If you enjoy it, then after that you just have to do the hard work."
Schneider also had a link with Senior Sportsperson of the Year Paul Scoullar, who recalled in his acceptance speech the 1999 Hume League grand final. Scoullar was playing for Lockhart and the scores were locked, only for a 15-year-old Schneider to kick the winning point for Osborne.
The speedy half-forward also spoke of the sacrifices and decisions you need to make to reach the top, including the switch from the Swans to St Kilda.
"At Sydney I had a great time and made friends I'll have for the rest of my life," he said.
"I was actually on holidays in Bali when I got the call offering me St Kilda. I thought about it for
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a couple of days, which is hard to do when you're in Bali on holidays.
"It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. It was a great opportunity and I took it and it ended up being the best decision I've made."
Having played with and against some of the game's best, Schneider said it was an honour to play with Sydney's Paul Kelly and Adam Goodes, who he described as "a freak". He said he is always impressed by the way St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt handles the pressure placed on him each week.
Last year was a great one for the Saints, but it ended on a disappointing note after losing the grand final to Geelong. Schneider said the competition will be close in 2010, but was confident St Kilda can go one better.
"They're a good bunch of blokes and they're all hurting from last year and we're all keen to get there this year," he said.
"The best thing about this competition is it's so even. There's probably six or seven teams who can go on and take it out.
"We'll just have to wait and see."
With the average career of a footballer less than three years, Schneider said you always have to have a back up plan.
"The club is really good with encouraging players to do things outside of footy, like study or do some courses, because you're just one injury away from your footy days being over," he said.
"I've done a few courses and a few different things, like a personal trainer course. You have to have a back up plan because like I said, you're just one injury away from it being over."
Having spent the bulk of his career in Sydney, Schneider was also asked about the planned expansion that will see a Greater Western Sydney team and one from the Gold Coast enter the AFL.
"It's a good opportunity to expand the game," he said. "Western Sydney will be tough to make it work, but they're pumping the money into it that's needed to get it going.
"The Gold Coast has created a lot of interest, like signing (NRL player) Karmichael Hunt.
"They'll take time to develop, but I think it's what the game needs."
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